FIA to support Red Bull’s rule change request | the judge 13

The two big stories of the year are yet to break and is the FIA’s decision to allow new entrants into Formula 1. The second will be the fallout from any breaches of the cost cap.

Once again the FIA ​​is delaying announcing ‘certificates of compliance’ for teams that met the 2022 spending cap regulations.

Meanwhile, Andretti seems confident that their application will get the green light and according to Mario they are “imminent.”

However, during the summer break, another controversy is starting to emerge within the paddock and it concerns the final specifications for the new power units.

Christian Horner revealed that Red Bull’s analysis suggests that the cars will be extremely heavy given the tripling of the electric power reserve (battery) and that the internal combustion engine will sometimes just serve as a generator to create electricity.

Mercedes and Ferrari resisted Red Bull’s proposal to drop the proportion of power from the battery from 50% to 40-45%, but it appears there may be a backdoor through which Red Bull will see the tweak approved of their rule.

George Russell recently complained about the weight of modern Formula 1 cars which are now over 200kg heavier than 15 years ago and around 900kg at the start of the race.

“The weight is excellent,” said the Mercedes driver. “Right now, the low-speed performance isn’t great… We’re continuing to make these cars safer and more secure, but obviously the heavier you make them when you have an impact, it’s like crashing a bus compared to a Smart Car” .

Now FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has weighed in on the matter.

“I drove myself in a rally. Give me everything, but please no heavy car!’ He told Motorsport Total. “That always bothered me. Lighter cars are better and I know what I’m talking about.

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“If the weight is more, the suspension will be compromised, the brakes will not work as well, the tires will wear faster. And more weight is more dangerous in a crash.”

Of course, the improved safety of F1’s modern car design has added significant weight over the years, but the length and width of the cars means their current footprint is at an all-time high.

“I have already spoken to my FIA team,” he added. “We want lighter cars and we want better sound. This is ultimately up to the FIA.

“If Stefano [Domenicali] he wants that too, ok then we agree on that point. But the FIA ​​has to decide. We will implement it. No, because FOM or a group wants it that way. It’s because it’s the right thing for the sport.”

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The FIA ​​representative who runs Formula 1’s day-to-day operations recently gave an interview at the race and explained how the weight of the new 2026 cars was shaping up. And there were targets to “reduce dimensions” and “Reduce or limit the mass of the car.”

However, Nikolas Tombazis reveals the decision by the FIA ​​and the teams not to return to a V10 or V8 with 100% sustainable fuel means around half of the 200kg increase is baked into the V6 hybrid powerplant.

The extra 100 kilos that Topasis explains are from the following:

“About 50 kilos is for safety. Well halos, much stronger chassis, bigger protections and so on and so forth. So again, no one would want to compromise that.

“So that’s where the opportunity is, and there’s about 15-20kg because of the more complex systems in the cars and there’s about 30-35kg in the dimensions of the car. So the cars are much longer and wider, bigger tires and so on.”

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However, the cars should be made closer and narrower because this is the area where the FIA ​​can win.

“And we believe in the dimensions of the car there is an opportunity. We’d like the 2026 cars to be much shorter and possibly a bit narrower, and all of that will limit weight gain.”

However, even this saving will be offset by the increase in weight due to the three times stronger battery cell.

“On the other hand, there’s an increase in battery because we’re going more electric, which adds some weight. So, hopefully the net effect will be a little bit lighter, but not massively so.”

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This does not seem to be a satisfactory answer to the wishes of George Russell or Mohammad Ben Sulayem.

Of course, if Red Bull’s proposal to reduce the battery by 20% were accepted by the FIA, this could offer a weight saving equal to that of the reduced dimensions of the car.

Topazis believes the dimensions could save “30-35k” which is only 3% of the current weight. Doubling to 6% still sounds small, but it could get the FIA ​​out of a hole given the expectations of Formula 1 fans who have been promised smaller, lighter cars.

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Fernando Alonso, full-time race driver, part-time race strategist, engineer and side mission completer? 😆

Take a look at @alo_oficialThe “big brain power” moments so far in 2023 👇#F1 @AstonMartinF1 pic.twitter.com/gyE2LSGM5A

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 15, 2023